PUMA Sign South African Sprinter Thando Roto

PUMA continues to focus on growing local athletics talent with the announcement today that the global sports brand has signed an endorsement deal with South African 100m sprint star Thando Roto.

21-year-old Roto is South Africa’s second fastest man ever over 100m having clocked a blistering 9.95sec in March 2017, which is also the 4th fastest time in the world so far this season. Hailing from King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape, Roto trains under the watchful eye of coach Hennie Kriel at the University of Pretoria where he is in his 2nd year of Sports Science studies. Roto is proud of his nickname ‘The Rock’, which he says is a tribute to his studious ways and focused approached to training.

Under the Forever Faster mantra PUMA will provide Roto with the best in technical apparel to help him on his way to the world stage with Speed 300 IGNITE training shoes and competition spikes, EvoSPEED Electric 5. Commenting on his new deal with PUMA, Thando said: ”I’m excited with the partnership and looking forward to the journey with PUMA.”

Brett Bellinger, PUMA’s Marketing Director for South Africa said, “Thando is a raw talent who caught our eye with his impressive track sprint performances. He embodies the spirit and values of PUMA both on and off the track by training and competing hard. He’s a young man with a huge future and we’re pleased to play a part of the success that will come.”

The signing of Thando Roto follows last years’ announcement of partnerships between PUMA and up and coming track stars Gezelle Magerman, Malesela Senona and longstanding sponsorship of fellow 100m sub10 sprinter Henricho Bruintjies.

Follow @PUMASouthAfrica and @Thando_Roto on social media for the latest news and updates.